Climate Change

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE

The residence of Valarie and David Whiting was the setting to launch “Sea Change,” the inaugural Orange County event benefiting Oceana, the largest international organization dedicated to protecting the planet’s ocean environment. The evening at the Whiting’s residence attracted the local crowd as well as two Hollywood heavyweights, actor Jeff Goldblum and producer Keith Addis , who also serves as vice chair of the Oceana organization. Addis addressed the gathering, explaining the work of the group in California and around the world.

Climate change is under way in a harmful and dramatic way. Did you know sports can be part of the solution? Melting ice caps, rising oceans, hurricanes and tornadoes, the science and evidence is indisputable. As fossil fuel, water and other resources diminish, major change in our energy grid and wasteful practices is necessary. We don't want to be the first generation in American history to hand a degraded quality of life down to our children. We need to act now before the problem is unsolvable.

Newport Beach city workers kept busy Thursday morning, pumping out stormwater that had accumulated on the Balboa Peninsula. Along Newport Boulevard between 21st and 26th streets, one lane was closed down for about an hour as crews diverted the water from the street into the harbor, but not before a group of neighbors dropped by to try their hand at skimboarding the nearly 1-foot-deep puddles. No property damage was reported on the peninsula or on Balboa Island, said Mike Pisani, Newport's deputy municipal operations director.

Some migrant thoughts while surfing last week beyond health care and presidential pitches for the under-age vote on what is left of our print media: When the U.S. Chamber of Commerce makes news, it is unfailingly cheerful. But some of that cheer is being washed away in the wake of the chamber’s strong opposition to proposed climate change legislation. The latest of its members to withdraw from the national chamber is Pacific Gas and Electric Corporation, whose top executive could no longer be a party to the “obstructionist tactics” of what he called the chamber’s “extremist position on climate change.

I’ve learned a lot over the last few months. I’ll bet you have as well. Here’s some of the stuff I’ve learned: I learned that just when I was finally ready to buy a Chia Pet, they stopped advertising them. I’ve learned that if you favor continuing the age-old definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman, then you’re a homophobe. I’ve learned that if you don’t have management or executive experience of any kind, or never served in the military, or started a company, or if you haven’t held a job in the private sector, or gotten promoted on your merit or performance, or met a payroll, or hired or fired, or signed a check on its face, then you’re now considered qualified to be president of the United States, commander in chief of our armed forces and the leader of the free world.

Re. " Mailbag: Rohrabacher is right - earth is cooling," (Aug. 26): Letter writer Jason Pitkin seems to have mistaken science for politics, in the same way that Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) has. My original letter made no mention of political "sides," and neither will this one, except when quoting Pitkin, because "sides" are not relevant in the realm of scientific debate. And in response to Pitkin's letter, I too have read many rebuttals of global warming, but I've read those rebuttals in "letters to the editor" sections of newspapers, rather than in scientific literature.

A new report aimed at offering guidance to local, state and federal leaders to improve the health of coastal waters has been released after a Newport Beach City Councilwoman pushed for the study. Councilwoman Nancy Gardner was one of 18 elected officials from California, Oregon and Washington state who requested the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative report, titled “One Coast, One Future: Securing the Health of West Coast Ecosystems and Economies.” The report urges leaders to adapt and prepare for climate change impacts through an ecosystem-based approach that recognizes the interconnections among marine life, climate and local economies.

UCI has created a new Environmental Institute to develop solutions concerning global change, officials announced Thursday. The institute will focus on conducting research on climate change and its effects, green solutions, and new energy technologies. Scientists from various backgrounds and departments across campus will work on these projects. The institute will award grants on a competitive basis to UCI research teams who are geared toward research, innovation and societal response.

With the demand for fresh water growing and its supply quickly dwindling worldwide, a panel of UCI experts will explain tonight how world leaders should approach the looming crisis through innovation. H20logy: Tapping into Technology to Solve Water Demands will showcase several UCI experts? novel approaches to questions of water supply and demand, purity and recycling, regulation, and public education. The accessibility and affordability of water is not a guarantee, experts warn.

Alex Coolman Kirsten Cappel is going international. The energetic 21-year-old from Huntington Beach has been interning at Costa Mesa's Earth Resource Foundation, an environmental group on 17th Street. The experience, she says, has given her a good sense of the way local politics work. But Cappel's professional and intellectual aspirations go far beyond 17th Street. Later this month she's heading to Geneva, Switzerland, where she will be part of a delegation of American students that will participate in a human rights summit.